The Thing that I Didn't Want You To Know
by iloveromance
Summary: Sue is humiliated when Axl spills her secret to Sean and it changes their friendship forever; but not in the way she intended.
1. Chapter 1

Even before Mrs. Thomas announced that she was going to walk down each aisle and return the graded test papers to her students, Sue cringed with dreaded anticipation. She turned to Brad who was sitting behind her, reading his textbook. Annoyed, she gently pushed the book downward, forcing him to look at her.

"What?"

"Brad, how can you be so calm?"

"What do you mean? I'm always calm."

"I mean about my grade on this test! God, Brad I'm so nervous!"

Brad, being Brad, wasn't at all fazed by the news and instead smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Sue. You've got this!"

She sighed, grateful to have Brad as her best friend. He was always so encouraging, no matter what the situation. But this time, the situation was helpless. "Thanks Brad, but-."

His hand reached for hers. "Sue, you're a good student. Just remember that, okay?"

"Okay." She replied woodenly, letting out a deep, frustrated sigh. And then she smiled. "You're right, Brad. I _am_ a good student! I-."

She turned around to find the piece of paper lying face down on her desk, which made her heart beat faster. She shut her eyes, afraid to look at her grade. And when she finally did look, she wished that she hadn't. A feeling of sickness came over her.

"Oh God…"

"How bad is it?"

Embarrassed to show her test even to her best friend she shook her head. "I-I can't."

"Come on, Sue. How bad can it be?"

When she frowned he grinned brightly. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours!"

She couldn't even bring herself to laugh at his attempt at humor. "Brad-."

"Come on."

"No, it's embarrassing!"

"Please?"

"Oh, all right. I have to show someone eventually. You might as well be the first." Her hand trembled as she reached for the piece of paper and thrust it in his direction.

As she expected, he took one look at it and grimaced.

"Ouch."

"God, Brad. I've never made that bad of a grade on a test, ever!"

"Don't worry about it. It's just one test."

"I know, but what about the next one? And the one after that? I can't do this, Brad! I don't know what I was thinking, trying to convince Miss Sims that I was smart enough to be in Advanced Algebra. I have no idea what I'm doing and I feel like a complete dunce."

"You're not a dunce, Sue. You're smart."

"Not smart enough. My parents are going to kill me!"

"Sue, relax, all right? Your parents are pretty cool. They'll understand."

"They won't understand this. Don't you get it, Brad? Do you have any idea how many meetings they had to go to with the guidance counselor to get me into this class? And Axl is the one who always gets bad grades, not me! I'm not saying I'm perfect, but get much better grades than Axl does. Until now, anyway."

"I promise everything will be fine."

"Are you sure?"

He drew an X on his shirt with his hand. "Cross my heart."

"Well I hope you're right."

"I _am_ right, all right? Sue, you have nothing to worry about. I know that your parents will understand."

But even though Sue trusted Brad completely, she wasn't so sure that things would ever be fine.


	2. Chapter 2

Normally when the school bell rang that signaled the end of the day, Sue hurriedly grabbed her belongings and ran out of the door, but not that day. She moved slower than normal, working at a snail's pace as she removed each and every book, folder and her sparkly binder and stuffed them into her backpack. She then attempted to lift it, realizing at once that it weighed a ton, making it nearly impossible to lift off of the floor and hoist it onto her shoulders. But she managed, well aware that there were more books inside of her backpack than she could possibly read in one evening. But Sue, being Sue, was determined to study as much as possible. Several minutes later she hoisted the backpack onto her back and slid the strips through her arms.

Walking proved to be agonizing and nearly impossible due to the wave of kids who rushed past her in the hallway, nearly knocking her down in the process.

"Hey, watch it, all right?" She called to a group of cheerleaders that merely laughed as they literally pushed her aside.

When Sue was once again on her way, she was almost to the door when she was hit again, this time by a bulky blonde-haired wrestler.

"Sorry." He mumbled as she attempted to get out of his way. But it was too late. Seconds later she began to lose her balance and it was only a matter of time before she would topple onto the floor, humiliated yet again. However, something unexpected happened.

Suddenly she felt two hands working to steady her and bring her to an upright position.

"Are you okay, Susie Q?"

She looked up at once and her heart began to flutter. "Sean…"

He smiled. "Yeah. Wow, you almost had a fall there. Good thing I was here. Are you all right?"

"Um, yeah, I-I think so."

"Are you headed for the bus?"

"Yeah."

He gently lifted her backpack from her shoulders. "Here, let me get this for you."

"That's okay, Sean. You don't really have to-."

"It's no problem. Hey, it's the least I can do."

"Well.-."

Using her backpack like a weight, he lifted it up and down, chuckling. "Wow, this is really heavy. What do you have in here? Lead? A ton of bricks?"

She lowered her head. "No, just books."

He laughed. "I know, I'm just kidding Susie Q. Man, I would freak if I had this much homework. Maybe you should tell your parents because this seems a little excessive."

Her chest felt tight and she began to walk faster until she felt him run up behind her in an attempt to catch up to her. But she kept right on walking, never daring to turn around.

"Hey, Susie Q, wait up!" He called to her.

She kept right on walking until they reached the double doors and then pushed them open with her hand. "I need to get home, Sean."

"Okay, okay, but at least let me return your backpack."

She continued to walk, grateful that she was finally out of the school. But she'd barely walked two feet when she slumped onto the steps and began to sob into her hands.


End file.
